No.
New York State
Department of Health
Bureau of Emergency Medical Services
POLICY STATEMENT
Supercedes/Updates:
86-02
Date: 01/14/86
Re: Infection Control –
CPR Manikins
Page 1 of 2
SUBJECT: Infection Control – CPR Manikins
(The following recommendations for decontaminating manikins used in CPR
training were furnished to the Emergency Medical Services Program by the
United States Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia.)
1. The manufacturer’s recommendations and provision for sanitary practices
should be thoroughly examined.
2. Students should be told in advance that the training sessions will involve
"close physical contact" with their fellow students.
3. Students should not actively participate in training sessions if they have
dermatologic lesions on the hands or in oral or circumoral areas; are
known to be hepatitis B carriers; have upper-respiratory-traction infections
or AIDS (or evidence of HTLV III/LAV infection); or the student has reason
to believe that he or she has been exposed to or is in the active stage of
any infectious process.
4. If more than one CPR manikin is used in a class, students should be
assigned in pairs, with each pair having contact with only one manikin.
This limits possible exposures.
5. All persons responsible for CPR training should be thoroughly familiar with
hygienic concepts, as well as the procedures for cleaning and maintaining
manikins and accessories. Manikins should be inspected routinely for
signs of physical deterioration, such as cracks or tears in plastic surfaces,
which prevent thorough cleaning. Manikin’s clothes and hair should be
washed periodically or whenever visibly soiled.
6. In order to limit the potential for disease transmission during the tworescuer "switching procedure", the second student taking over ventilation
should simulate it instead of blowing into the manikin.
7. When practicing the "obstructed airway procedure", the finger sweep
should either be simulated or done on a manikin whose airway was
decontaminated before the procedure and will be decontaminated
afterwards.
8. Each time a different student uses the manikin, the individual protective
face shield, if used, should be changed. After a potentially contaminating
procedure, the manikin face and inside the mouth should be wiped
vigorously with clean absorbent material (e.g., 4" X 4" gauze pad) wetted
with hypochlorite solution or with 70% isopropanol, or ethanol. The
surfaces should remain wet for at least 30 seconds before they are wiped
dry with a second piece of clean absorbent material. Although highly
bactericidal, alcohols are not broad-spectrum agents; their use here is
recommended primarily as an aid in mechanical cleaning and because
some persons find the odor or hypochlorite objectionable. Little viable
microbial contamination is likely after the cleaning procedure.
9. At the end of class, the procedures listed below should be followed to
avoid drying of contamination on manikin surfaces:
•
Disassemble the manikin as directed by manufacturer.
•
As indicated, thoroughly wash all external surfaces (also reusable
protective face shields) with warm soapy water and brushes.
•
Rinse all surfaces with fresh water.
•
Wet all surfaces with a sodium hypochlorite solution having at least
500 ppm free available chlorite (e.g., ¼ cup (approximately 60 ml)
liquid household bleach (approximately 5% sodium hypochlorite)
per gallon (approximately 4 liters) of tap water) for 10 minutes. This
solution must be made fresh at each class and discarded after each
use.
•
Rinse with fresh water and immediately dry all external and internal
surfaces.
10. Persons responsible for the use and maintenance of CPR manikins should
not totally rely on disinfectants for protection from cross-infection.
Emphasis should be placed on thorough cleaning (scrubbing, wiping).
Microbial contamination is easily removed from smooth, nonporous
surfaces by using disposable cleaning cloths moistened with a detergent
solution. There is no evidence that a soaking procedure alone in any liquid
is as effective as the same procedure accompanied by vigorous
scrubbing.